When Sonic Is Away
by MelodiousBloodshed
Summary: ...Shadow bangs Knuckles and an odd relationship forms. Creme and her mom lose their house... and Miles Prower is suddenly much, much sexier. Now Sonic's back: what next? CHARACTERS ARE HUMANS with animal traits, though. Morphs. YAOI! SonTails! ShadKnux
1. Coming Home: Isn't It Sweet?

Emerald eyes gazed around fondly, red shoes scuffling on the sidewalk and dragging the bottom of his jeans on the ground-ahhh, home. Downtown-after all that fighting and madness, after being gone for FOUR YEARS, he was home free. He was going to go home, nom some chilidogs, kick back and-holy hip huggers, Bat-MAN! Look at that fox!

He was only to about to Sonic's nose, with ginger ears and a matching tail and big, BIG blue eyes. Baggy jeans were hanging from his hips, and he had on a green tank top, one of the straps dangerously close to slipping over his tanned shoulder as he stood there and chattered with someone Sonic actually recognized-Knuckles, wearing similar clothing, his shirt a deep shade of red and hugging his body firmly. Realization hit at just about the same time as Sonic saw a second tail whishing behind the fox, both appendages tipped in white.

…

…

…

By the Chaos Emeralds, was that TAILS?

…He was gorgeous!

The Blue Blur sped over behind them, dropping his bags and grabbing their shoulders. "Hey, guys! Did I miss anything?" Knuckles's fists clenched, going for Sonic's head as Tails swept his foot down, for Sonic's ankle. Both halted immediately when seeing the face of who they assumed was an attacker, and tears bubbled to Tails's eyes. "SONIC!" He tackled him, arms tightly around the elder's neck as the morph tried telling him a million things at once, ears twitching impatiently as he jabbered. "

"

"…and I improved the airship blueprints and built a new house and made you new gadgets and by the Emeralds, Sonic I missed you so much never do that again!"

He chuckled and put his arms around Tails's form tightly, burying his face in his hair and inhaling. "I promise I won't-that was a one time deal, promise, Tails." He nodded and looked up at Sonic, turning a bit pinkish and letting go after a moment, eyes locking on the ground. "I'm glad you're home," he murmured, lifting his eyes again. This time they were soft and almost shy, and it took all the control he had not to snatch his friend up and run home to have his way with him. "Sonic."

He turned, quills brushing lightly against each other as he faced his friend with a smile. "Hey, Knux! Long time no see." He nodded and grinned gruffly. "Things have changed, Sonic. Be prepared-everyone is…" He glanced at Tails with an amused look. "…a bit different." Sonic shrugged. "So am I." "So I see," the echidna-morph chuckled, and turned. "Well, Tails, I hate to dump Sonic on you, but I have a date to rush off to, and you know how Shadow gets when I make him wait." Tails rolled his eyes and muttered, "He gets more masochistic and you love it, Knux, and we both know it. That's why you stopped to chatter with me."

Sonic's jaw dropped as Knuckles walked away, and Tails giggled, tugging on his arm a bit. "C'mon, Sonic, lets go get you moved back in and make your house like a home again, 'kay? I'll explain in the process." He nodded, and by the time they were to his house, Sonic had come to grips that his rivals were lovers-and he was okay with that. Tails was now chattering about changes the town had made, new guidelines, things like that, and when Sonic saw his house, he was shocked….

…it wasn't a colossal mess!

He looked to Tails questioningly and the fox smiled a bit shyly. "I… tried to upkeep a bit. Is that okay?" He nodded and grinned, opening the door to find things neater than when he left, everything organized and neat, no dust, no bugs, no mice. Sonic turned around, bright green eyes locking onto sky blue unerringly. "Thank you." His friend had busted his ass keeping his house clean, and he hadn't even been asked… Scratch his previous thoughts, he would court Tails properly, and THEN bang him into a mattress. …And a wall. And perhaps the table. The fox nodded, a small smile on his lips as he walked in as well, taking Sonic's bags and setting them in his room before coming back into the living room, plopping down on the couch and looking up at his cobalt friend as if to say, 'well, what are you waiting for? This is your house, silly, I just took care of it for a while!' Well, who was a hero to argue with that logic? The phrasing was 'clever as a fox' for a reason, you know. He sat and sighed happily-there were no dust motes from the couch, either. Tails had been thorough in his cleaning.

He rested his head on the back of the couch, and for the first time since he'd left, he merely lay there, breathing in silence. Fighting as much as he had was hard on the mind and body, and this…this was heaven. His friends were safe, he was safe, he was resting, and there was blissful _silence_… He opened his eyes to see Tails curled up on the other end of the couch, smiling bemusedly, eyes closed. '_He looks as if he's eaten the last cookie,_' he thought, and closed his eyes again. Ah, peace.

`~.~`~.~`~.~`

_He ran faster than sound, faster than light, so fast you couldn't even see the blur he was so famous for. Panic overrode his systems, and there was a dark chuckle as the clone caught up to him, sniggering, "What's the matter? Am I too fast?" There was silence, save for panting, and the 'bot slammed Sonic against a tree, finally halting his movements. "Oh, this'll be fun. I'll get a promo, get to see you killed, and watch the horror as your friends are killed before you. OH, that one, what was his name? You know the one-he only clings to you all the time. What is he, your boyfriend? I'll make sure they draw his death out, making it painful, but they start with him first." _

_`~.~`~.~`~.~`_

He woke with a yell, and his forehead met with a person standing over him, and he heard a near-silent curse as Tails brought his hands to his nose, groaning. He pushed back his panic and ran to get a rag of some type, handing it to his fox-like friend with a soft apology. Tails waved it off and thanked him, tilting his head back and clamping the rag over his nose, finally asking, "What was your nightmare about?" Sonic blinked. "How did you-?" "You were floundering around like someone had you pinned… It didn't look like fun, so I tried to wake you up, and well…" He chuckled softly, "Here we are. Sorry for staining the rag, by the way." He shook his head. "No, it's fine, Tails. Are you alright? Anything broken?" He gripped his face in his hands, carefully tilting his head up so he could have a good look at his sidekick.

"N-no," he whispered, blue eyes wide with shock at their closeness, pink peppering his tan cheeks. Sonic blinked and let go carefully, scooting back a few inches and laying against the couch arm again. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that," he finally muttered, and then Tails's face was buried in his shoulder after he flew at him from the other side of the couch. "No! I'm glad I was here. I know how it is to have nightmares that bad… From when we were fighting Black Doom… That was awful…"

Emerald eyes locked onto cerulean, and Sonic's arms locked around the Prower prodigy's waist. The younger man had been terrified of the aliens, but fought them all the same, blue eyes filled with panic and fear. He began to pet Miles's hair when he heard a soft sigh from the doorway, a coo-like sound peppered with gentle agitation. "Of course you go to Tails. Why wouldn't you go to Tails? Didn't even bother trying to say hi to a fellow hedgehog-morph."

Sonic groaned into Tail's hair and the fox-boy giggled, lifting a gloved hand to motion Amy in. She stared at their odd position for a moment, but sat in a chair across from the couch. "How have you been?" she asked, already physically flirting with Sonic-slight tilts of her head, leaning forward to give him a peek down her cleavage-which he avoided-smiling only at him. Tails had curled up half on top of him, nuzzled closely into his side and glaring icy daggers at Amy, glares she returned-Sonic could see Amy's glares, but not his best friend's, and as such eased himself from Tails's grip to stand.

"Maybe we should catch up later, Aims. Me and Tails were catching up, too. See you on the flipside?" He held his arms open to her and she pressed every square inch of herself that she could against him, making him grimace. "Of course. Have fun with your boy time~ ," she replied with a smile, and practically skipped out the front door. Sonic lay back down and curled up around Tails as they used to when they were starting out as heroes, a subtle hint to Miles saying that he meant more than that bimbo.

~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~

A week later found Tails spending the night again-he'd stayed with Sonic four out of seven days. With a sigh, he rolled from bed and went to brush his teeth, hopping in the shower and getting dressed before writing Sonic a quick note. Pressing a feather light peck to the top of his head, he dashed out the door to go work on his house again.

Sonic groaned softly, rolling over to the other side of the bed only to meet empty sheets, green eyes full of confusion. "Tails?" He sat up and looked around, quickly spotting the paper on his bedside table:

_Sonic,_

_Hey, I have to go work for a little while, okay? It shouldn't take me two hours-are we still meeting up for lunch?_

_See you later,_

_Tails _

He smiled a bit and walked to get ready, pausing for a moment when he saw that Tails had left his toothbrush. Now, Sonic sped to get ready, already eager to see his vulpine friend after he shoved the brush in a Ziplock and the Ziplock into his backpack. He tugged the nearest clean shirt-a midnight blue tee-and faded, ripped jeans on and scarfed down some breakfast before dashing out the door, green eyes full of content at his speed.

~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~

Miles swept red hair from his eyes with a sigh-he was sweaty and hot but didn't care-his house was coming along swimmingly. He'd given his old one to Cream, her mom, and Cheese the Chao, but still hadn't completed his own. Blue eyes were zeroing in on his work again when he heard a gasp from behind him. "Tails… this is your house? But… you said it was done… how can you live here?"

Tails winced, but turned to face his crush. "I can't just freeload all the time… and I gave Cream and her mom my house… They lost theirs. What else can I do?"

~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~

**_Ah, Tails. We love him, huh? Anyway! Here's my Sonic story! And those who like Harry Potter should keep their eyes peeled: Drarry, ScorpAl, and Siriumus, on the way!_**

**_Love always!_**

**_~Mel_**

**_(P.S. Speaking of Miles "Tails" Prower... there is a seriously cute toy of him out now-a posable action figure! Check it out, it's adorable! I took one home. It now rests at my writing station -heart-)_**


	2. A Lesson! Two Lessons!

_**Wow. Just…**_**WOW**_**. That was one of the greatest, most straightforward reviews I've ever gotten! Thank you much, The Truly Avaricious ! I wanted honesty and critique-and all you gave me was that and some encouragement! I'm so happy! It's a great honour to have your approval.**_

_**As for my first reviewer-and you know who you are, unless you've figured out that if your review is negative, you don't have to read further… I read the review and laughed. I mean, really, really laughed. The kind that makes you cry so hard you can't see straight, and when you try to stand and walk, you fall over.**_

_**When I receive a review, I expect three types: complete fluffery, which I absolutely adore (which is the 'this is so great omg i love it keep going -insert smiley of choice here-' type of review, in all variations of grammar and punctuation); honest critique, be it good or bad, with an explanation; or a flame telling me that I'm going to hell for writing yaoi and seeing someone of the same gender romantically.**_

_**What I do not expect, though, is someone telling me to stop writing. It didn't hurt at all-it just makes me laugh that I received that when there are people on FFN who have much worse grammar, form, and punctuation skills, and yet I receive the pointless, explanationless slam.**_

…_**At least they said 'please' :D I'm all for manners, people.**_

_**So, thank you's!:**_

_**My reviewers! I love each and every one of you, even those with negative things to say! At least you took the time out of your day to leave me a comment, and for that , I am so happy.**_

_**My friends! I know you guys are reading this (right? *looks around*), and I'm happy to hear your opinions vocally (such extensive explanations, because I can ask about specific things, and get great answers! That's freaking teamwork!)**_

_**But most of all… YOU! Yes, you! At the computer screen! No, not the guy behind you (unless he's reading this too?)! No, not the poster of Dean Winchester (hah, blatant Supernatural promo X3 You love me, NAL ~_^)! You, reading this! None of this would be worth ANYTHING AT ALL if you weren't enjoying what I write. Everything, my dears, is for you. Thank you so much.**_

_**Random authors you guys should check out! If you dislike rambling, skip the comments lol, but please check these girls out:**_

_**ReizbarOokami (I actually don't know her personally, I just think she's really, really great. She writes THE BEST Puppyshipping. Also Puzzle/Bronze/Tendershipping, and Chaseshipping if I'm not mistaken? Cleon and other things too…)**_

~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~

_**Nerd Angels and Llamas (she has the most amazing storylines! Also, her bio is entertaining for kids of all ages. Writes mostly Supernatural and Big Time Rush, but totally kicks ass at it!)**_

~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~

_**ShadowAngel1001 (Cannot be put in a genre, really. Puppyshipping, NaruHina, Chack…A bunch of other pairs I can't think of at the moment.)**_

~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~

_**xx Pig. in. a. Poke xx [remove the spaces] (Writes Puppyshipping and Destiel for the most part so far… Fluff, oneshots, and drabbles ^_^)**_

~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~

_**sillynekorob: If you like Jak and Daxter, her stories are a **_**must**_**. I love her work-she's such a descriptive author!**_

~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~.~*~

_**If you're on my list and want to be removed, tell me!**_

_**Now…On with the show. ~_^**_

* * *

After that day, Tails was officially living with Sonic the 'Hedgehog'. '_More like Sonic the overly-hard-headed,_' he thought to himself as he pulled on a bright orange jacket a week later. They were finally having a 'welcome back' party, and people were flocking in from all parts of Mobotropolis and Knothole. He went to the kitchen and gathered some supplies for decorating Rouge's bar-she'd been kind enough to offer it up for the celebration, and most of their friends were there as Knuckles and Shadow kept Sonic sidetracked. With one last list-check, the 'fox' smiled and headed out the door.

* * *

Green eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, I can't go see Tails?" Amethyst eyes blinked back, and their red-haired owner replied, "Exactly what I said. You can't go see him right now, but we'll bring you to him later." Sonic frowned a bit, but nodded. "How long?" "Only an hour or so," Shadow cut in, putting a hand on both of the morphs' shoulders. He couldn't help a look of bemusement when he saw the impatience in Sonic's eyes-could it be that the shy fox would get his unsaid wish sometime soon?

* * *

"Amy, pass me the tape!" "Pass me the tape _what?_" Miles grit his teeth and ground out, "Pass me the tape, _please_, Amy." The annoying pinkette did so with a giggle and went about pinning up blue and gold balloons. Tails rolled his eyes and went back to taping up the 'Welcome back and thank you!' banner he and Cream had painted together.

The phone behind the bar went off and Rouge picked it up, answering, "This is the Russian Roulette nightclub, Rouge speaking. How can I help you today, honey?" Then she blinked. "He demanded what? Oh, that's cute! What? It is. And yeah, we can be done by then with a little more effort. See you then, Shadow." The bat morph put the phone down and turned irritated eyes on her workers. "Bad news-we have to have this done in an hour. Cream, go to the baker and get the cupcakes. Amy, go pick up the punch. Tails…" She smiled a little now and said, "You're doing good. Keep it up." Everyone did as told, and when only the fox and bat remained, Rouge turned to the youngest of the two and said, "He's rushing because of you, you know. He missed you like you missed him."

Tails flushed brightly and shook his head, pausing for a moment in his decoration to reply, "Maybe as much, but not the same way. Thank you, though, for waiting until Amy was gone to tell me that." Rouge smiled as she peered from behind black and white bangs, replying, "What are comrades for?"

* * *

"You guys didn't have to do this." Oh, but they had, because the look on Sonic's face was priceless. He looked around with a soft, 'wow…' and walked up to the bar, where Rouge was cleaning a mug. "What do you want, hot shot-blue typhoon or a kamikaze?" "A blue typhoon sounds nice, actually. I still can't believe you named Tails' drink after his plane… Cute idea, though, for a cute morph." He smiled at Rouge, but the wink was aimed at Tails, who blushed appropriately.

Four hours later-well past midnight-found the group dancing and laughing though the party had ended at nine. They were all drunk off their asses…except Amy. She hadn't had a drop of alcohol, but sure was acting like it-she didn't sit _near_ Sonic, she sat _on_ him, hand drifting across him inappropriately and being smacked away, rubbing her body against him only to get no reaction-which, even in normal clothes would've been bad, but she'd worn the shortest skirt she could find as well as a high-rise, low cut shirt.

She giggled loudly at something he'd said, and with glassy blue eyes, Tails glared at her angrily. He wouldn't be able to take much more. But when Sonic looked to Shadow and she shoved her hand down his pants before he realized what was happening, Tails stood and slammed his hands down on the table. "That's it." And he promptly hit Amy square in the nose, breaking it cleanly and making big tears well in her eyes. "Back off. He doesn't want you-he's made that much obvious by pushing you away and halting your advances."

A tanned hand covered his mouth, and Sonic's green eyes were almost steely. "Miles, go home. I'll talk to you there." His voice was equally surly, and Tails ears folded back as he shrank into himself submissively, and when he nodded, Sonic moved his hand so he could walk out the door.

A few feet from this door, Tails felt tears prick his own eyes-had he been wrong? Had he been welcoming the invasion of his space? Had he been merely playing hard to get to peak interest? Had his choice between the two the other day…been a farce? He began to run, and when he got home, he sat on the couch and stared at his shoes until he fell asleep, glostiks still around his wrists, neck, and ankles as he awaited his scolding.

* * *

Miles whimpered softly at the throbbing of his skull, curling in on himself to try and fix it. This helped none, and only served to make his stomach hurt worse. He forced himself to sit up and blinked at a piece of paper on the bedside table labeled with his name. He reached for it though his body protested, and opened it.

_Tails,_

_Good morning, starlight. The earth says hello! ;3_

_I hope you've found the aspirin beside the table-there are four, which is the maximum you can take. There is a cup of water to take it with, as well as a can of beer-don't drink it quickly. If you drink it slowly, it eases your hangover. I made you breakfast-two of those toast-like things you like so much and a bunch of bacon… Still your favourite, right? Anyway, I left all that in the microwave. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you breakfast in bed, but I had to go help Rouge clean up-I'll be back before two. _

_Only get out of bed to eat, then get your bi-tailed butt back up here, curl back in your little ball and sleep some more-that'll help the hangover, too._

_~Sonic_

Now the fox-morph smiled a bit, shuffling to get the pills before deciding, hey... Maybe today won't be so bad.


End file.
